[64] The attacks were more intense during the presidential terms of Diosdado Macapagal and Ferdinand Marcos, who supported irredentist claims to include eastern Sabah as part of the Philippines territory.

[71] Sabah Chief Minister Shafie Apdal also urged the Malaysian security forces to stop taking a defensive attitude and be offensive towards the rampant crimes perpetrated by southern Filipino criminals and terrorists that has disturbed peace in the state.

[60][88][89] During the expedition by the British ship HMS Dido in 1846, Captain Henry Keppel mentioned: The most desperate and active pirates of the whole Indian Archipelago are the tribes of the Sooloo group of islands lying close to the north shore of Borneo.

[92] During the last years of British rule in North Borneo, both seafarers and coastal settlements suffered a high numbers of attacks from pirates who were believed to be mainly based on Tawi-Tawi.

[94][95] During Mustapha's term from 1967 to 1975, he was believed to have encouraged many newly Filipino Tausūgs to migrate to northern Borneo to establish a strong Muslim community which was represented by the United Sabah National Organisation (USNO).

[61] Today, a huge numbers of Moros still live in many places in Sabah such as Kota Kinabalu, Kinarut, Lahad Datu, Sandakan, Semporna, Tawau, Telipok as well on Labuan.

[108] It was also reported that community leaders in the east coast such as village chief were involved in the granting of identity cards to new Filipino Moro immigrants as they have a connection with them through similar ethnic roots.

[21] Due to the increase security patrol by the Malaysian Armed Forces, the militants group such as the Abu Sayyaf has changed their tactics by attacking and abducting foreign vessel crews.

[126] On 9 October, two Filipino illegal immigrants who were identified as Sulu militants were killed by police in Penampang, both suspects has a record of criminal activities and were responsible for at least three robberies in the area.

[136] On 1 April 2016, four Malaysians aboard a tugboat from Manila was kidnapped when they arrived near the shore of Ligitan Island, while leaving other crews unharmed comprising three Myanmar nationals and two Indonesians.

[176] To combat Moro pirates and Abu Sayyaf attacks, the Malaysian government has also decided to impose a curfew on eastern Sabah waters and has started to use radar to detect any suspicious activities on every tiny settlement along the east coast.

[177][178] There is a call from a former Chief Minister of Sabah, Harris Salleh to the federal government to reconsider the proposal to move the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) base from Butterworth, Penang to Labuan.

[9] On 28 February, the United States supplied the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM) with 12 boats following a number of agreements signed between the two countries in 2014 during the Barack Obama visit.

[185][186][187][188][189] Beside that, he have suggested that if any Filipino races (who have been naturalised as Malaysian citizens through the illegal Project IC) caught for continuously committing crimes in the states should be revoked for their citizenship with their whole family been deported back to the Philippines.

[190] Similar view were also being highlighted in 2018 by ESSCOM chief Hazani Ghazali that Filipino kidnappers received information from their relatives who have been illegally staying in Sabah for a long time.

[191] The Royal Malaysia Police and Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister has made a proposal to ban barter trade in the east coast as it was seen only benefited to one side and threatening the security of the state.

[202] On 8 December, three armed Filipino kidnappers who are believed to be members of Abu Sayyaf was shot dead by Malaysian security forces while another two arrested while the gunmen trying to kidnap a fisherman off Lahad Datu.

[215] On 30 April, a Filipino foreign worker who works for the Malaysian plantation related an incident to a friend which later was reported to police following the sightings of armed men in Lahad Datu who suddenly apprehended him and telling that they want to protect the peoples in Sabah.

This was enforced following the revelation from the previously arrested Filipino man who tried to robbed a house and taking a local bystander as a hostage in the state capital as he had no money to be used to return to his country.

[231] On 28 December, an armed illegal immigrant man with identity documents from the Philippines were shot dead in Kampung Jawa, Lahad Datu after aiming his gun to patrolling police members who out to check him in a house following a tip-off from the public.

[232] On 13 January 2019, another case of random passerby hostage taking involving a 2-year-old children occurred in Telipok where the suspect been shot dead after 5 hours negotiation with police to release the victim.

A. Hamzah of the Department of Strategic Studies, National Defence University, Kuala Lumpur said "the root causes for maritime violence must be understood and addressed" with the people in the Sulu Archipelago should be granted for a self-rule by the Philippine government.

[256][257]United Sabah People's Party (PBRS) leader, Joseph Kurup shares a similar view on this, adding that the Moro refugees and immigrants should take the opportunity to return and develop their homeland in Mindanao, Philippines as the peace had been restored there.

[266] Sabah State Legislative Assembly member for Kamunting in Sandakan, Charles O Pang, believes the education system will be burdened if stateless children are given birth certificates.

[269][270][271] The seaweed industry operated by indigenous Suluk community in eastern Sabah are also heavily affected because of the persistent kidnappings perpetrated by their Filipino-Tausūg relatives southern-Philippine-based terrorist group, the Abu Sayyaf.

[276][277] UPKO to present their proposed solutions on the problems after they have obtained the full Royal Commission Inquiry report, one of them being the re-calling and re-issuing of all the identification cards of the people of Sabah.

[278] Other former politicians have asked the federal government to investigate the action of some individuals who claim to be of royal blood of the Sulu Sultanate and have been conferring many Datukship title to local Sabahans and to those from Peninsular Malaysia until today.

[280] However, the former UPKO federal parliamentarian, Wilfred Bumburing reminded that the members of Barisan Nasional (BN) should not take credit for the setting up of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) as it was only established after a much pressure from the Sabahan peoples.

[291] The recent Sabah state government decision to re-open border trade in its eastern coast has been applauded by Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) secretary Abdul Khayr Alonto.

The re-opening of the cross border trade will involve our three island provinces but will eventually expand to other territories of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), and even to General Santos City.